Improvement in buckles



waited tui-re F. C. BICI-IER, OF GILMER, TEXAS.

Letters Patent No. 89,689, dated May 4, 1869.

IIWPROVEMENT IN BUCKLES.

` The Schedule referred to in these Letters Patent and making part ofthe lame.

To all whom 'it may conce/rn.'

Be it known that I, F. C. HIGHER, of Gilmer, Upshur county, Texas, haveinvented av new and improved Buckle; and I do hereby declare that thefollowing is a full, clear, and exact description thereof,

which will enable others skilled in the art to make' and use the same,reference being had tothe aecompanying drawings, forming part of thisspecification, in Which- Figure 1 represents a plan or top view of myim'- proved buckle.

Figures 2, 3, and 4, are vertical longitudinal sections of the same.,

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts.

This iiivention relates to a new buckle, which does not require to besewed to either of the straps which it is to connect, and which willsecurely fasten and hold the said lstraps or bands in any desiredposition.

vThe invention consists, first, in the use of a buckle which has fourtransverse slots, with teeth ou the inner cross-bars; and, secondly, inproviding a buckle with slotted end-bars, that is to say, withhorizontal apertures through the ends, through which the strap to beheld is passed, as hereinafter more fully described. 4 A, inthe drawing,represents a buckle, made of sheet-metal, or other suitable material,and provided with four transverse slots or apertures, a a', b b', sothat it has, consequently, five cross-bars, c c', (l d', e, and twoside-bars, ff.

-v The cross-bars d d have teeth, g, projecting into the apertures b b',as shown, and may also have teeth ou their outer edges, if desired. A

The strap to be fastened is passed through the apv erture b, and aroundthe bar d, back through the aperture a, and under the end-bar c, asindicated in tig.

3. The teeth g, piercing it, hold it lirmly in place. The other strapis, in a similar manner, fitted through the aperture b', around lthe bard', and out through a. The straps will thus be firmly held in place.

The end-bars c c may be made quite thick, so as to admit the formationof horizontal apertures, h h', througlrtheln, as shown in fig. 2. Inthis case, the straps to be fastened are fitted through these aperturesh. 71', over the bars d d', and back again through the same' apertures hh', as in iig. 2. They are thus still more securely held, and the endsof the straps are held down out of the way.

This latter improvement, of perforating the endbars horizontally, may beapplied to all kinds of buckles, whether the saine have one or morevertical apertures. The end-bars cc may, in this case, be straight, as

shown, or rounded, iu suitable manner.

'The apertures h h', through the end-bars c c', can be formed by cuttingtransverse incisions through them, and by forcing the bars fi t', formedby these incisions, down, to form the apertures between the pressed-downparts and the body of the buckle, as in iig. 4.

Having thus described my invention,

WhatI claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. A self-fastening buckle, consisting of four transverse slots and fivecross-bars, of which two are provided With teeth, substantially ashereinshown and described.

2. A self-fastening buckle, whose ends, c c', are horizontallyperforated, to admit the straps through them, substantially as hereinshown and described.

' F. C. RIOHEB..

Witnesses:

FRANK BLOGKLEY, ALEX. F. ROBERTS.

